Tuesday, April 24

Lagunitas 4/20 Event Recap At The Bassanova

I was happy to receive an email inviting me to a beer release party/event Lagunita's Brewing had hosted in Portland at the Bassanova Ballroom. For one, I know Lagunitas knows how to throw a party, and two, I have never attended an event yet at the Bassanova. Today as I write this, I am scratching my head as to why I haven't.

The beer is Waldo's Special Ale. The term 'Waldo' comes from a phrase used to explain those that sit alongside the wall just hangin' such as the term 'Wallflower'. But the story is a little deeper than that, and I won't go into all the way. I have to leave something for folks to research on their own.

It is an Imperial IPA with a ton of dank hops. Many folks got together at Lagunitas to go through a massive variety of hops to see which would give this beer a resinous, dank, skunky, and chronic-like aroma and flavor. You can kind of get the hint here.

The beer was free. And it wasn't just the Waldo's Special either which is the beer I started with. Knowing Lagunita's, I somehow knew each beer would be stronger than the usual, and that many there were simply going to get wasted. I tried not too, but the night carried on. Also pouring was the Pils, WTF, and a wonderful tasting '07 Brown Sugga Barleywine. I kind of bounced around between the WTF and Brown Sugga after my Waldo's pour. I tried to nurse each and every beer. Tried.

I didn't expect the entertainment to be so much fun. Aerial Acrobatics, large multi-instrument bands, and other various artists such as a fun stoner couple reefing and munching a bag of Funions while doing a very difficult dance routine. It was fascinating.

It was also a pleasure joining up with many fellow PDXBeerGeeks and Brewers. What else could be better but talking beer and entertainment with fellow craft beer enthusiasts?

The Bassanova Ballroom was a nice joint which often hosts many live bands. On a flyer I grabbed, I noticed that DJ Quik and Celly Cel are going to be there on the 27th of April. Cool stuff. The layout in a way reminded me of the old Pine St. Theater/La Luna. There was an upper level with a bar, but there are two pool tables, and old PinBot pinball machine, and other various old school oddities such as a hockey game which many had a blast with.

Also the joint sits just right across the street from Burnside Brewing. Good spot to have some dinner and a beer before attending an event at the Bassanova.

Overall the event was just a really cool party with lots of people having fun and getting happy. I am glad I was safe and alive the next day. I was forewarned that events such as this could very easily sneak up and bite the keister.

That's about all I will write about the event. It was more of a media and industry event, and one that really just had to be seen. So I managed to finagle a few photos from my now-classic Canon Powershot which I managed to drop a few times.

The beer was very hoppy, but on tap I couldn't much tell the difference between it and their Hop Stoopid. Perhaps the malt bill is much the same, but the hops were quite different. I am guessing a lot more were used in the Waldo's Special Ale, especially in the aroma department.